Talk Radio News Service: News, Politics, Media

By Annie Berman - Talk Radio News Service

America needs health care reform that doesn't discriminate against medical patients with pre-existing conditions, said House Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and others during a press conference on Thursday.

“Our health care system has also stood against equality. Insurers are regularly permitted to discriminate against Americans with pre-existing conditions. As a result, millions of Americans have found it essentially impossible to secure health coverage,” said Hoyer.

Also at the press conference were Reps. Ed Perlmutter (D-Col.) and Marcia L. Fudge (D-Ohio) who also criticized the private insurance industry for prioritizing profits over the health of customers.

“The [insurance companies] want to insure healthy people and deny coverage to sick people because it’s better for their stockholders. That’s the way the system works. It’s a broken system, an immoral system, and it’s unconstitutional under the fourteenth amendment which requires equal protection for all of us,” said Perlmutter, whose daughter has epilepsy and will be excluded from receiving health insurance when she is no longer on her parents' plan.

“The bottom line is, Americans all over this country know that health care is essential,” said Hoyer.

Hoyer is a strong supporter of the Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009, which would expand health coverage to millions of Americans who are presently uninsured. Funding for this new health care system would derive in part from taxes on the wealthy, cuts to Medicare and Medicaid and increased government spending.